Sir John Lubbock

Lubbock, Sir John (lŭbˈək) [key], 1834–1913, English banker, statesman, and naturalist. As a member of Parliament from 1870, he introduced many reform bills, especially in banking, including legislation establishing bank holidays. His scientific contributions were in entomology and anthropology and include his Prehistoric Times (1865), long used as a textbook in several languages; popular works include Ants, Bees, and Wasps (1882) and The Pleasures of Life (2 vol., 1887–89). He was created Baron Avebury in 1900.

His father was Sir John William Lubbock, 1803–65, an astronomer and mathematician. He made a special study of tides and of the lunar theory and developed a method for calculating the orbits of comets and planets. In mathematics he applied the theory of probability to life insurance problems.